Critical Task: Getting Dressed

Know your critical tasks.

It happens to everyone at some point.

We look up from the momentum of a day that got away from us only to realize that it’s 5pm and we never managed to get out of our yoga pants and messy bun.

There are 746 items on our to-do list and not a single one of them is crossed off.

The temptation to write it all off and say (again) that tomorrow will be better is irresistible.

Win The Day

Tim Ferriss is often credited with coining the phrase “Win the morning, win the day” and you know that’s an idea I love.

But what does that look like and how do we do it?

If you’re on my email list (if you’re not, get on over and subscribe, silly!), you heard earlier this month about my whole cold shower thing and the year long challenge I’m doing.

One of the things I stumbled across as part of this challenge is the concept of creating a daily “critical task list.”

I love this so much and I know you will, too.

Here’s how it works:

1. Make a list of the 3-5 “critical tasks” that, if done, would allow you to feel that you’ve “won” the day. Note that this isn’t everything you’d like to finish that day, or everything you think you should get done. Pare down and think about your life as a whole, from your wellness to your work to your relationships and choose the 3-5 most critical tasks to move you in the direction you want for your life. These tasks stay on your list until they become a habit that will propel your life toward your goals.

2. Decide how you’ll mark a “win” for the day. I like to keep things simple and just put a big ol’ “W” for “win” next to the day on my calendar on those days that I completed my critical tasks and an “L” for “lose” on days that I don’t. Some people like to put gold stars on days that they win, or draw a big happy face. Whatever shows you the days that you won at a glance! Don’t overthink this.

3. Keep track and look back on your week. Keep going. Build momentum. The idea here is to build momentum. To turn tasks into habits that you no longer need reminding or encouragement to follow through on because they’re integrated into your life. Look at your week and see how many days were wins— how can you raise that number? How can you make every day get a big, beautiful “W” next to it?

4. Rinse and Repeat. Once a task has been integrated into your life as a habit, remove it from the list and replace it with something else that would help move you toward your best life.

Example Time

Pretty basic, right?

You know I would never teach something I hadn’t tested out on myself, so here’s an example from my own life.

My first critical task was…drum roll, please…getting dressed.

Laugh if you want, but I have one word for you: pandemic.

C'mon, I know I’m not the only one who slacked a bit here.

I workout and train clients all day long, so I live in my yoga clothes. #jobperks

The thing is, usually I still, you know…groom. A little make-up here and there, shaped brows, hair done.

But somehow over the course of 2020, I let a lot of that slide.

And it didn’t make me feel good.

That’s the thing— this isn’t solely about vanity or needing my appearance to look a certain way.

Taking care of my appearance is part of taking care of myself— it has a direct impact on how I feel, on my energy levels, on my posture, etc.

It’s important to my overall well-being.

I was seeing the same pattern in my clients. Showing up in the same clothes, letting some of the grooming go, and it contributing to larger patterns of depression and low energy.

We were all missing our sparkle, you know what I mean?

Enter my critical task list.

I made “get dressed” the first item on my daily critical task list.

Nothing extreme— fresh clothes, simple earrings, a bit of make-up, something with my hair.

It turned out, I was out of the habit of attending to my appearance.

It took nearly a month of keeping it on my critical task list before I was getting a “W” all seven days of the week.

I had to get used to it again.

I had to make it a habit again.

Taking care of my appearance isn’t revolutionary, ground-breaking wellness advice.

But it made a big difference in my energy levels and how I felt about myself, my days, and my life.

More than one client has reported a boost in how they were feeling after merely adding wearing earrings back into their days.

Add this to healthy eating and daily workouts and suddenly that small improvement becomes a big one.

Similarly, I had getting at least seven hours of sleep every night on my list for awhile.

Simple enough, but it took a few weeks before I could regularly “win" the entire week.

I try to keep my list to 3 items most of the time.

Small but mighty is the name of the game here.

Once I’ve mastered a task and feel it’s become reliably integrated into my life, I remove it from the list and replace it with the next thing I want to create a habit around.

This is how I continue to grow. How I continue to challenge myself and live more fully into what matters to me.

Your turn.

Try it out.

Think about the top three things you’ve wanted to build habits around.

Put them on your daily critical task list.

Start winning your days.

Keep building momentum toward the life you want to be living.

Leave me a comment below and tell me what changes you’re implementing with your list. What are your tasks? I want to know.

Remember— it’s the small things done with consistency that will lead to the big results you're after.